Mongolia-U.S. sign formal child protection compact partnership

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/ U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia
Michael Klecheski and Senior Mongolian Officials, including Minister of Justice
and Home Affairs Ts.Nyamdorj, Minister of Labor and Social Protection S.Chinzorig, and Prosecutor General B.Jargalsaikhan, today signed a historic
partnership to combat child sex trafficking and forced child labor in
Mongolia.

Implementation of this four-year partnership will strengthen
the efforts of the Mongolian government, law enforcement and prosecutors, NGOs,
and civil society organizations to fight all forms of child trafficking in
Mongolia.

The Partnership signing comes after several months of
high-level discussions between representatives of relevant Mongolian ministries
and offices and the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat
Trafficking in Persons (TIP Office), which is responsible for leading the
Department’s global engagement to combat human trafficking.

With the signing of this CPC Partnership, the TIP Office
commits to providing approximately $5 million (nearly 15 billion MNT) in U.S.
foreign assistance to nongovernmental and international organizations that will
collaborate with members of the Mongolian National Sub-Council on Trafficking
in Persons, which leads interagency efforts to combat human trafficking. The
Partnership’s objectives include improving interagency coordination and
collaboration, improving Mongolia’s investigation and prosecution of
child traffickers, strengthening Mongolian and civil society capacity to
provide comprehensive trauma-informed care for child trafficking victims, and
expanding community understanding of the risks and indicators of child
trafficking as well as how to take appropriate action to prevent child
trafficking in all its forms.

Mongolian children are especially vulnerable to forced labor
in informal sectors of the economy, such as horseracing, herding and animal
husbandry. Children left alone at home are also at an elevated risk of sex
trafficking and in some cases family members may be complicit in child sex
trafficking and forced child labor.

The TIP Office will begin selecting implementing partners
through a competitive grant process and will soon post a Notice of Funding
Opportunity (NOFO) soliciting applications for projects that support
implementation of the CPC Partnership’s objectives.

Though unable to attend the signing, United States
Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Person John Cotton
Richmond expressed his robust support for the Partnership stating, “Because of
this agreement and Mongolia’s commitment to fight child trafficking, this
partnership is poised to have a massive impact on stopping traffickers and
holding them accountable in Ulaanbaatar.”

Recognizing the significance of today’s signing, Ambassador
Klecheski noted, “I am honored to represent the United States in signing this
historic Child Protection Compact Partnership, which came about because of the
strong joint commitment our two countries have made to combat child
trafficking, and has the potential to make a real and enduring difference in
children’s lives here in Mongolia.”